Some Ways a Probate Lawyer Can Help You and Your Family
If you have lost a parent or another relative then you are likely still dealing with the grief, but you may also have responsibilities that relate to taking care of their home and other assets that make up their estate. Some of these responsibilities are going to have deadlines and you must deal with them in a timely manner or you risk legal repercussions.
Probate is the legal method of transferring ownership of a deceased relative or person’s assets and paying their debts. Each state has its own rules on how probate might be handled and you must be aware of this information if you are involved in handling someone’s estate, it matters where they and their estate was not where you are from.
In most cases probate is going to be required in Iowa, and you should reach out to a probate lawyer, such as the ones available at the Iowa Law Group, if you have questions about the probate process. There are some exceptions to the rule that probate is required, such as having a small estate that is valued less than $25,000 and only includes your personal property. If the assets have a named beneficiary then you can also avoid probate, and there are different types of probate that are sometimes less complicated and designed for small estates.
The best way to avoid having an estate or to probate in Iowa is by planning ahead while you are still alive. A probate lawyer can give you advice on how to avoid probate. One surefire way to avoid probate is to have a revocable living trust of the named beneficiary that includes all of the assets of the estate that will be left after you die, it will allow you to avoid probate because this type of trust does not go through the probate process.
Iowa probate code, for example, does allow for the executor to receive compensation for their time and work, if the will state the compensation amount that is considered the amount that will be paid out but if there is no amount on may be decided by court. And the executor can refuse to accept payment at their own discretion.
The executor might receive about 2% of the estate’s value, if the situation was complex and her great dual time they may request more than the 2% of the estate’s failure. If the executor did not do a good job of managing the estate and caused it to suffer a loss then they may also receive less in then the allowed compensation. Your probate lawyer can help you decide this amount if needed.
The timeline for probate is going to vary widely because of the size and complexity of the state having a say in the time it takes to process the estate, unless there are specific exceptions the law requires it to be completed within five years of the persons that. Oftentimes cases are resolved within a year.